• A fireball rises during an Israeli strike in central Gaza. AFP
    A fireball rises during an Israeli strike in central Gaza. AFP
  • Smoke and flames rise during an Israeli strike, carried out after the Israeli military warned residents to evacuate the area, Al-Zawayda, in the central Gaza Strip, August 23, 2026. REUTERS / Mahmoud Issa TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
    Smoke and flames rise during an Israeli strike, carried out after the Israeli military warned residents to evacuate the area, Al-Zawayda, in the central Gaza Strip, August 23, 2026. REUTERS / Mahmoud Issa TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
  • Palestinians flee following an Israeli strike in Maghazi, central Gaza Strip. AFP
    Palestinians flee following an Israeli strike in Maghazi, central Gaza Strip. AFP
  • A fire burns after a strike on a flatbed trailer. Reuters
    A fire burns after a strike on a flatbed trailer. Reuters
  • Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike in Maghazi. AFP
    Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike in Maghazi. AFP
  • A firefighter tries to extinguish the flames of a burning lorry in Maghazi, in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
    A firefighter tries to extinguish the flames of a burning lorry in Maghazi, in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
  • Gazans at the site of an Israeli strike in Maghazi. AFP
    Gazans at the site of an Israeli strike in Maghazi. AFP

Fireball in central Gaza as Israeli strike kills child


A terrifying fireball erupted over central Gaza on Sunday as Israel bombed a warehouse in an attack that Palestinian officials said had left a child dead.

Six others were reported injured, some of them seriously, in the attack on Al Zawaida. In a second strike, Israeli forces bombed a shelter near the north-south Salah Al Din Road in central Gaza, official Palestinian media said.

Photos showed a column of smoke over central Gaza in the aftermath of Israel's attacks. Palestinian medics said the child had died of injuries sustained in the strike on the warehouse.

The Israeli army said it had struck a Hamas commander and a weapons manufacturing site, without providing evidence. It said the weapons factory was housed in an aid distribution point.

Smoke and flames in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Al Zuwaida, Gaza. Reuters
Smoke and flames in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Al Zuwaida, Gaza. Reuters

The attacks are the latest to pierce the 2025 ceasefire in Gaza that curtailed Israel's onslaught on the Palestinian territory. With the peace process stalling, the US this month sought to inject some momentum by sending President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to hold talks with Hamas and Israeli leaders.

Israel agreed with Mr Kushner to form new working groups on Gaza's disarmament and humanitarian needs, but there was no major breakthrough on the peace process. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a US-backed plan for a phased withdrawal from Gaza.

In a spate of new attacks last week, Israel bombed a seaside cafe in Gaza city, leaving six people dead, and killed nine more people in an attack on police personnel the next day. The UAE joined seven other Arab and Islamic nations in condemning Israel for rejecting renewed peace efforts.

Five convoys carrying 800 tonnes of aid sent from the UAE entered Gaza this week. The aid, which included food, medicine and materials for shelter, was sent on 75 lorries as part of the Emirates' Operation Gallant Knight 3 campaign.

The supplies were sent to meet the "essential needs and strengthen the humanitarian response inside the Gaza Strip", state news agency Wam reported on Sunday.

Updated: August 23, 2026, 5:32 PM